July 26, 2010

Don't drink the water

That's an old cliche about traveling to foreign places, but it's a valuable tip—there are likely a bunch of bacteria and stuff in the local water that you're not used to, thus giving you the runny shits. But the locals drink the water all the time, and they're okay, seeing as how they're used to it, right?

New health and safety guidelines mean the water supply that has sustained the residents of Muck through the ages is no longer deemed safe to drink.

Officials have told the Hebridean island’s 35 inhabitants they must import mineral water from the mainland and are offering taxpayer-funded grants for a new treatment and purification system.

But angry residents complained no one has become ill after drinking water from the island’s eight natural springs, which are fed by rain clouds rolling across the Atlantic.

Lawrence MacEwen, whose family have owned the tiny isle since 1896, said: “All the houses on Muck are served by reliable springs of a quality at least as good as can be bought in bottles.

“But that is not good enough for our environmental health, who are insisting that all our water is treated before it reaches the houses.”

These people have been drinking the water unfiltered from the local springs for generations, but now they're being told by the government that they have to purify it, and they're going to get a £15,200 subsidy per household to purify water that has never made anybody sick.

God, I hope nobody in the O-ministration is reading this, looking for new ways to waste "stimulus" money.